The Year of the Five Emperors was the year 193 CE, in which five men claimed the Roman throne after the murder of the emperor Commodus. The first, Pertinax, a respected senator and general, was killed by the Praetorian Guard after only a few months, and the guards then auctioned the throne to Didius Julianus, a wealthy senator. Armies on the frontiers refused to accept this: Septimius Severus in Pannonia, Pescennius Niger in Syria and Clodius Albinus in Britain each had himself proclaimed emperor. Severus marched on Rome, had Julianus put to death, and then defeated Niger and later Albinus in civil wars. He founded the Severan dynasty, which ruled for about forty years.
Before and after
- 170 CEDeath of Ptolemy
- 17 March 180 CEDeath of Marcus Aurelius
- from 184 CE to 205 CEYellow Turban Rebellion
- 185 CEChinese astronomers record the supernova of 185
- 193 CEYear of the Five Emperors
- 2nd centuryConstruction of Aqueduct of Segovia
- 2nd centuryPublication of Book of Han
- c. 200sTeotihuacan becomes the largest city in the Americas
- 203 CEOrigins of Arch of Septimius Severus (Roman Forum)
More in Wars, politics & history
- c. 510 BCEThe Roman Republic is founded
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- 49 BCECaesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
- 451 CEAetius and Theodoric stop Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
- 476 CEFall of the western Roman Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 2nd century.